An increasing number of users seeking information utilize web browsers connected to the Internet to begin searching for that information. Users typically begin their search for information by pointing their web browser at a website associated with a search engine. A search engine is a program designed to help locate information. The search engine may be configured to search any of a variety of systems of varying size and scope. For example, the search engine may be configured to search multiple computer systems such as computers publishing information on the World Wide Web, to search within a particular website on the World Wide Web, to search a personal computer, or to search any other system. The search engine allows the user to request web pages containing information related to a particular search term or phrase.
Although search terms and phrases may be used by the search engine to guide the information search, finding the particular information being sought by the user is challenging. New information is constantly becoming available via the World Wide Web. As the amount of information that is available increases, the difficulty that users experience in finding particular information of interest also increases.
In response to the growing difficulty users face in finding information, many search engines offer search engine features, such as a search history, to assist the user in performing their search. In existing systems, a search history may be a listing of previous searches. The search history may also include information associated with each search such as the date the search was performed. The search history is presented to the user in a list, generally sorted by the date. The user can see what searches have already been performed.
However, the usefulness of the search history is limited by the listing presentation. For example, a user wanting to revisit an earlier search in performing a new search for information about a particular make and model of vehicle would not intuitively search through a listing of their previous searches sorted by date. Further, the search history generally does not include sufficient additional information related to the searches that were performed to provide advanced guidance to the user.
What is needed is a system and method for providing an intuitive, navigable user search history to a user. What is further needed is such a system and method configured to provide guidance to the user in performing future searches. What is yet further need is such a system and method configured to provide the user with detailed information about their search history. It will be appreciated that while the teachings herein describe certain features and advantages that may be achieved, the teachings herein may be used to implement systems and methods that do not necessarily achieve any of these features or advantages, but rather achieve other features and advantages.